by Penelope Sky
The energy in the room was weird, like he somehow stole all the control with just his presence. I didn’t know this man, but I got a strange vibe from him. Couldn’t explain it…it was just instinct. “How can I help you, Mr. Stine?”
“Maddox is fine,” he said quietly. His fingers moved under his cuff and adjusted his flashy watch. “Before Gustavo passed away, he told me you were looking for a husband. Said I might be a good fit.”
My mother never mentioned Maddox, but maybe he was another man on her list. Being in his presence immediately made me uncomfortable. When the mafia came into the lobby and convened in the bar, I felt the same sense of dread. There was something evil about him, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It made Hades much more preferable…by a long shot. We had our differences, but I never felt unsafe. “I’m flattered by your interest, but my family needs to butt out of my personal life.”
He smiled, showing all of his straight teeth. He was a handsome man, maybe a couple of years older than Hades. But there was still something off about him, especially the way he stared at me without blinking. “Annoying, isn’t it?” he said with a laugh. “But they’re trying to do the best thing for you. Not to sound presumptuous, but I probably am the best thing for you.”
Wow…that was a little much. “With all due respect, I don’t know you, and you don’t know me.”
His smile slowly faded, his gaze turning ice-cold. “I’m the richest man in this country. What else do you need to know?”
I found that hard to believe. There were a lot of rich men within a twenty-mile radius. Hades seemed particularly wealthy, but I never asked him what his net worth was…because it never mattered to me. “Then what do you need me for?”
“A beautiful wife. Isn’t that what every man wants?”
I felt like a possession, a toy he could play with until he got tired of it. I could picture this man treating me more like a dog than a person. “Like I said, I’m flattered. But I’m marrying someone else.” I’d been having cold feet about the idea all week, thinking about breaking it off with Hades. But now that I saw an example of what my mother had in mind, I quickly changed my mind.
“Oh, that’s too bad.” He glanced at my left hand. “I don’t see a ring.”
“It happened very recently.”
He nodded slowly. “Who’s the lucky man?”
“You probably don’t know him.”
“I know everybody.” His voice lowered.
“Hades Lombardi.” I wanted to wrap up this conversation quickly, to get this man out of my office so I would never have to see him again. The more questions I answered, the longer the conversation continued.
His entire body tightened at the name, like he knew exactly who that was…and didn’t like it. He stared at me so coldly, it seemed as if he wanted to reach across the desk and choke me to death. He swiped his tongue across his bottom lip, letting out a deep breath that showed his disappointment. “You could do better.”
Maybe. But Hades was definitely better than this guy. “I’ve got to get to a meeting, so thanks for stopping by.” I rose to my feet and opened the door for him. “It’s a beautiful day outside. You’d probably rather be out there than in here.”
He took a long time to stand up, lingering as he faced my empty chair. As if he had something else to say but wasn’t sure if he was going to say it, he took his time. When he finally stood up and looked at me, he was still ice-cold. He gave me a final look at the door before he walked off.
Thank fucking god.
I watched him walk around the corner before I relaxed. That man made me uneasy, like my soul could detect a demon living underneath his skin. It gave me the shivers. I returned to my chair and sat down, actually grateful I was marrying Hades. Now that my mom had gathered interest from suitors, they would probably keep pestering me until a wedding ring was on my finger.
Thankfully, I was already taken.
Hours later, Hades appeared in the doorway of my office.
I was actually happy to see him—until I saw the scowl on his face.
He sat in the chair Maddox had occupied earlier that day then set a stack of folders on my desk. He moved paper around until everything was arranged to discuss whatever business needed to be addressed.
Since he was so irritated, I didn’t mention the awkward conversation with Maddox. It might piss him off even more.
“You haven’t given me a date.” He sat upright in the chair and looked at me with impatience. He was annoyed and angry, but he didn’t emit the same level of evil the other guy had. Hades seemed harmless…for the most part.
“You haven’t given me a ring.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Didn’t realize you wanted one.”
“Isn’t that a requirement for marriage? To wear a wedding ring?”
He didn’t answer my question. “When were you thinking of doing this?”
“I don’t know…people are usually engaged for a year before they tie the knot.”
He immediately looked livid. “I’m not waiting a year. A month, at the most.”
“You expect me to throw a wedding together in a month?”
“Your family plans elaborate parties all the time. Let’s do it in the ballroom here at the hotel.”
That was where I’d always imagined getting married—just not to someone like him.
“Unless you had somewhere else in mind.”
“No…”
“Then make it happen.” He turned to his paperwork. “There’s a meeting with the board tomorrow, and I think—”
“I need a ring.”
His jaw tightened at the request. “Don’t interrupt me.”
“Then don’t change the subject.”
He threw down the papers. “I’ll get you a damn ring, alright?”
“I want it now—not at the wedding.”
Now he just looked perplexed. “For hating me so much, you seem to be in a hurry to marry me.”
“It’s not that. I just want everyone to know I’m betrothed.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Did someone bother you?”
I didn’t want to talk about the creepy man who had made me feel uncomfortable in my own office. Hopefully, I’d never see him again. “A few men have taken an interest in me. If I were wearing a ring, that probably wouldn’t happen.”
Hades digested that confession, his jaw shifting as his teeth ground together. “I’ll get one today. How about that?”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
He sighed before he looked at the paperwork. “At the meeting tomorrow—”
“Aren’t you going to ask me what kind of ring I want?”
His eyes turned hostile. “What did I just say about interrupting me?”
“Let’s finish our conversation first.”
“Why don’t you just spit everything out so we can move on, alright? If you take this long to get your point across, imagine how you’re going to handle the board members and everyone else at this hotel. Get to the goddamn point and be concise.” His hand formed a fist, and he set it on the desk. His brown eyes were steaming like hot coffee, but he didn’t undress me the way Maddox did. He was attracted to me, but he wasn’t creepy about it. He was an asshole, but he didn’t cross the line.
“I want a princess cut ring—white gold.”
“Got it.”
“But I don’t want anything too fancy. I prefer simple things.”
“I’m buying you the biggest diamond I can find.”
“But I don’t want that—”
“You’ll be my wife, so you’ll need to look like my wife. All people will have to do is look at your left hand and know you’re married to a very powerful man. That’s exactly what you want, right? To look the part?”
“Hades, this is the ring I’m going to be wearing for the rest of my life. I want to love it.”
He sighed quietly as his fist relaxed. He looked away for a moment, wrestling with his thoughts before he looked at me again. “Alright.”
>
“Thank you.”
“We’ll pick one out after work. That way, you’ll get exactly what you want.”
This was super weird.
I was in the passenger seat of his car as we drove to the jewelry store. It was a different car from the last one he’d had, an updated model with the same blacked-out windows. The paint job looked like the deep recesses of space had been plastered across the surface.
Music played through the speakers, drowning out the silence and replacing the conversation we weren’t having.
I looked out the window and tried to pretend I was somewhere else.
He didn’t try to make small talk either. He’d never had much to say, even when things were good between us, and now he was cold like frostbite—the kind of cold that could make your skin turn black.
And soon…he would be my husband.
He parked at the curb, and we entered the store. The door was locked behind us, so we could have all the privacy we wanted. The owner shook hands with Hades. “Congratulations, sir. Now comes the hard part…finding a diamond as beautiful as your future wife.”
Hades gave a slight nod. “Thank you, Emilio.”
I looked through the glass cases and eyed the sparkling diamonds. They were all beautiful, and I’d be lucky to wear any of them. I moved to the princess cut diamonds and found a simple one I liked. With a large diamond in the center and smaller ones along the band, it was exactly what I wanted. Not too big, not too flashy. “Can I try it on?”
Emilio pulled it out of the case and slipped it onto my left hand. “Perfect fit.”
I gazed at my left hand and admired the way the diamonds caught the light. Beautiful rainbows illuminated my gaze because the clarity was phenomenal. There was no price tag listed, so I had no idea how much it cost…not that it mattered to Hades.
Emilio turned to Hades. “She’s in love, sir.”
Hades came to my side and looked at my left hand. “Is that the one you want?”
“Yes…if that’s okay.” I knew he preferred the biggest diamond in the display case, but bigger wasn’t always better. At least not to me. I started to slide it off my finger.
Hades grabbed my hand and steadied me. It was the first time he’d touched me in years. I recognized the familiar heat of his body, felt the tremor as his skin touched mine. It was an authoritative grab. His hold suddenly loosened. “Leave it on.” He let me go and pulled out his wallet. A black credit card was put on the counter, plain with nothing on the front.
Emilio took it. “Thank you, sir.”
“How much is it?” I asked, feeling the extra weight on my left hand. I’d never worn jewelry, so it felt odd to have something squeeze my finger, to feel something weigh me down with commitment.
“Doesn’t matter. I could buy this store and everything in it if I wanted to.”
“I just thought I could—”
“No.” He would never take my money. It seemed pointless to even ask.
He got his card back and slipped it into his wallet. Then we walked back to his car. “I never want to see you without that ring. You understand me?” He opened the passenger door so I could get inside. “That’s one of my conditions.”
“What does it matter?”
He cocked his head slightly. “It shows your loyalty.”
“How would you feel if I made the same demand of you?”
He continued to hold the door, his body rigid as he stared at me in silence. “When I put on that ring, I’m never going to take it off. That’s fidelity. That’s loyalty. That’s commitment. I shouldn’t even have to explain that to you.”
Instead of driving me home, he parked in front of a restaurant.
We’d been in the car for five minutes not speaking, and now I became even more tense when I realized he wanted to prolong our time together. I remembered how comfortable I used to be with him, like I could say anything without thinking twice about it, like I could tell him how much I wanted him and he’d never make me feel stupid about it.
But all of that was gone. “It’s been a long day. How about we just call it a night?”
He ignored what I said and got out of the car.
I was hungry, so the idea of getting some actual food didn’t sound bad. I just didn’t like the company.
We took a seat in the restaurant, ordered a bottle of wine and our entrees, and then returned to the uncomfortable parameters of our relationship. There was resentment from both of us, anger about the past, but there was also mutual need.
He basked in the discomfort, practically thrived on it. He stared at me with his hands on the table, occasionally drinking his white wine, but still never taking his eyes off me. The heat was in his gaze, like he meant what he said when he told me he wanted to fuck me. But there was also subtle anger there, like he would always hate me for walking out on him. He’d asked me to spend our lives together…and I couldn’t get away from him fast enough. It was humiliating, but it was also entirely his fault.
It was hard to look at him when he wore that expression of perpetual rage. He had such a handsome face, but that dark tint around his presence always made him slightly formidable. He’d come into my life at various stages, and I realized it’d been almost ten years since we’d first met. The more he aged, the sexier he became. Now he was thirty-one…and in better shape than he’d ever been.
I kept drinking. This dinner had to end sometime.
He still didn’t talk, as if he expected me to do all the work.
In situations like these, it seemed like marrying him was a bad idea. How could we ever be compatible? But when I considered my other options, I knew he was the best I would ever find.
I looked at my ring, watching it sparkle even though there was low lighting in the restaurant. It was a beautiful ring, given to me by a beautiful man, but I still felt so empty inside.
When I looked at him, he still wore the same coldness. “Why are we here if you’re just going to glare at me?”
“Not glaring.”
“You definitely aren’t smiling.”
“I don’t smile.”
It only happened on the rarest occasions. I think I’d seen it happen twice. “Well, is there something you want to talk about?”
“Our marriage.”
“That wasn’t clear…since we’ve been sitting in silence for twenty minutes.”
“You know I’m not much of a talker.”
I decided to play his game instead of letting the discomfort fester. “Alright…where should we start?”
“You and your mother will move in with me. My place has enough space for all three of us, and it’s much more secure than yours.”
“And what will we do with ours? It’s been in our family for decades.”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me.”
“Why don’t you move in with us?”
“No.” He didn’t give an explanation.
“You won’t even consider it?”
He took a drink then gave the same answer. “No.”
Asshole. “Fine.”
“If you’re going to be my wife, I expect you to behave a certain way—”
“I told you I wouldn’t submit to orders. Don’t expect me to do anything. I’ll do whatever the hell I want, alright?” My mother was an obedient wife, but that wasn’t me.
His eyes burned like frostbite. “Interrupt me again and see what happens.”
“Did you just threaten me?”
“Yes.” He held my gaze without blinking. “If you’d allowed me to finish, you would have heard me explain that you’re marrying a powerful drug dealer. That means you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times and allow me to do my job to protect you. No late-night walks. No solo trips to the grocery store. Nothing like that whatsoever.”
“So, I’m a prisoner now?”
“You can do whatever you want. Just do it right.”
This felt like an agreement between two lawyers, not partners or friends. “When are you go
ing to be kind to me?”
“Have I ever been kind?”
“Yes…you used to be.”
“That was before you betrayed me.”
“That wasn’t a betrayal—”
“It’ll take time for us to move past it. Don’t expect it to happen overnight. I want to marry you, but that doesn’t mean I don’t resent you for what you did to me. It doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you. It doesn’t mean I’m going to sit here and pretend it never happened. But as time passes, our relationship will grow. We will be partners. We will be loyal to each other. Maybe we’ll even be friends. But you’ll have to be patient.”
At least he had an open mind about it.
“Let’s talk about kids.”
I stared at my wine for a few seconds before I lifted my gaze to meet his. “That seems premature.”
“I have no idea when you intend to start a family. Enlighten me.”
“I don’t know…maybe in two years.”
He gave a slight nod.
“You have no opinion about that?”
“No.”
“Do you ever want kids?”
“I told you years ago that I did. I’ll be thirty-three by that time, which is a good age because I don’t want to be ancient when my sons are grown men.”
“Sons?” I asked, my eyebrow raised. “How many kids are we having?”
“Two. Is that how many you want?”
“Actually, yes. But why do you assume they’ll be boys?”
He stared at me for a long time, his eyes unblinking and his chest stationary. The answer he gave was a direct contradiction to the length of his pause. “Just do.”
“Are you one of those men who would be disappointed if you had a girl?”
“No. I don’t have a preference, honestly.”
“Seems like you do.”
“It’s just a prediction.”
Our food arrived, but my appetite had disappeared. All of this felt so real, that this man would really be my husband, that I might be buried next to him someday, our corpses rotting until we were nothing but skeletons. “I want to keep my last name.”